For over 25 years, more and more people have prepared their own legal papers with the help of independent paralegals, instead of handing their cases over to lawyers. The Independent Paralegals' Handbook is a practical guide for anyone considering a career as a self-employed legal assistant, helping people take the law into their own hands. It contains interviews with leaders in the field, and discusses: legal areas open to independent paralegals where to get the necessary training the steps necessary to open a legal form-typing business what to name your business how much to charge how to market your services strategies designed to avoid unauthorized-practice-of-law charges independent paralegals who work for community and social-change organizations computers, the Internet and the independent paralegal The definitive guide on the subject for more than 15 years, this updated and revised 6th edition provides crucial advice for the new or veteran independent paralegal.

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In 1971, a new company known as Nolo Press published its first self-help law book, How to File Your Own Divorce in California, by Charles Edward Sherman. Two years later, Sherman and Nolo cofounder Ralph Warner (also a co-author of this book) launched an independent chain of clerical divorce service centers to assist people using the book. In essence, these centers operated as public legal secretaries, taking their directions from their customers who were acting as their own attorneys. Most of the centers are still in business more than 25 years later. Almost from the beginning, these centers came under the scrutiny of the State Bar of California. As is true in all states, California has a statute prohibiting the unauthorized practice of law (UPL). As we point out in Chapter 2, this type of statute is almost always ill-defined, that is, the statute doesn't define the practice of law but rather leaves it to the courts to decide on a case by case basis, after the fact, whether a particular activity is or is not the practice of law. A. The Original Independent Paralegal Model Not surprisingly, given the fact that the judges who make these decisions are all lawyers, court decisions that take up the issue of UPL tend to label as UPL any activity that might compete with the legal profession. However, as it turned out, the divorce centers managed to avoid being hauled into court by explaining to the investigating officials that they: made it clear to their customers that they were not lawyers and were not providing legal advice or other services that only lawyers could offer required their customers to make their own decisions on the basis of what they learned in Nolo's divorce book, and did not themselves deliver legal advice, and only provided secretarial services that were, in all respects, the same as scrivener services that have long been held not to involve the practice of law even if a legal document is involved. In other words, the centers convinced the District Attorney that their services could not remotely be considered the practice of law. B. Independent Paralegalism Spreads to Other States Since the advent of the California divorce centers, many other nonlawyer divorce services have opened in California and other states. And as the idea took hold, services were offered for people handling their own legal matters in such areas as bankruptcy, personal injury settlements, guardianships, name changes, and restraining orders against domestic abuse. Over the years, the folks offering these services began to refer to themselves as independent paralegals (IPs). Other names that are commonly used to describe IPs are legal technicians, form preparation services, legal typing services, and most recently in California, legal document assistants. In this book we stick with the IP label to avoid confusion. C. The Original Independent Paralegal Model Gets Stretched As the concept of self-help law and independent paralegal services became more accepted in California and several other states, including Oregon, Florida, and Arizona, the original model under which the California divorce services operated became increasingly stretched. For instance, instead of requiring their customers to use published written materials, some services would prepare their own brochures. Instead of restricting their role to essentially clerical services, the staff of some services would find it more convenient to advise their customers as to their basic choices. And instead of letting their customers select the appropriate forms, some services would select the forms for them.

 

Introduction 1 The Historical Background 2 The Law 3 How to Do Your Job and Stay Out of Trouble 4 Legal Areas Open to Independent Paralegals 5 Naming Your Business 6 Establishing an Office 7 How to Establish a Good Relationship With Lawyers, Mediators, and Judges 8 How to Run a Quality Business 9 How Much to Charge 10 Marketing Your Services 11 Computers, the Internet, and the Independent Paralegal 12 Customer Recourse 13 Working for Volunteer, Community, or Social Change Organizations 14 Political Organizing for Change Appendix A: Arizona Code of Conduct for LOPs Appendix B: Interviews Index

An essential book for anyone who wants to provide Americans with affordable legal help, without becoming a lawyer.

 

Ralph Warner is a co-founder and e-publisher of Nolo.com and one of the pioneers of the self-help law movement. A graduate of Princeton University and the Boalt School of Law (U.C. Berkeley), he is the author of many books and articles aimed at making our legal system more accessible and democratic.

 

Independent Paralegal's Handbook, The by Ralph Warner
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